


A Little Bit More than Nothing

by wordsmithraven



Series: When it Comes to Us [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Episode: s02e14 The Fair Folk, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content, Mild Smut, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-23 14:10:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11404056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordsmithraven/pseuds/wordsmithraven
Summary: Maia wasn't expecting Jace to walk into her bar like he usually did after she'd heard what happened in the Seelie Realm. Jace lived to surprise her, it seemed.





	A Little Bit More than Nothing

**Author's Note:**

> Just an itty bitty Jaia one-shot featuring Maia, Jace, and Magnus. It go a little smutty at the end so I gave it a M rating to be safe.
> 
> Have fun!

 

She was at the bar talking to Magnus when Jace came in.

It was close to the end of her shift for the night, Kandice would take over soon, and Magnus had dropped by just for a few drinks and the company. They’d been chatting for almost an hour about their usual topics: some problem he’d been having at Pandemonium, her decision about whether to go back to college, asshole shadowhunters they both hated.

Jace came through the door confidently, the smell of battle on the wind that blew in with him. A werewolf, Cody, growled at him as he passed the opposite way. A fight might’ve broken out given recent events but Maia had been sure to put her foot down about any of that nonsense. If there weren’t any rights being violated, the only person allowed to instigate fights with shadowhunters in _her_ bar was her.

It had been almost a week since she’d last seen him. A little more than that since they’d last had sex. Maia hadn’t really expected to see him that night. She’d assumed he was done with their little hookups when the rumor mill put it out there that Clary had kissed him and broken Simon’s heart. Maia herself had seen Simon skulking about her bar, binge drinking vodka laced blood and falling apart. She’d had to cut him off herself a few nights.

Through the window Maia could see two other shadowhunters waiting outside: an Asian guy with short hair gelled down and a tall Black guy with wire rimmed glasses. They were there with Jace which made her hesitate in her suspicions, but ultimately her newfound good will towards Jace didn’t matter. They were shadowhunters, so she had to be wary regardless. The whole bar got tenser the moment it was made known that a trio of shadowhunters were in the vicinity.

Magnus took a sip of the Long Island Ice Tea he’d just ordered and they both watched quietly as Jace walked closer. Maia pressed her lips together a little. Well, at least he’d had the good sense to leave his groupies outside.

“You’ve got some nerve coming in here. Most of my clientele wants you dead,” Maia said before he could speak. “It may have been a couple of weeks but memories are long for most of us.”

Jace gave that lip slanting half smile he had and tapped his knuckles on the counter.

“You wouldn’t let anyone mess up this fire hazard of a bar until you threw the first punch, and you’re not going to hit me now, are you, Maia? Give me a vodka tonic. Hey, Magnus.”

“Jace,” said Magnus with a nod.

Maia snorted. “Don’t be too sure. My fist is starting to itch,” she said as she mixed his drink. As she handed the glass to him, he brushed his fingers along hers, rubbing between the spaces they were parted like he wanted to fill them with his own flesh. She was reluctant to admit it but the touch made her shiver.

When she pulled back, Magnus gave her a look but she decided to ignore whatever he was throwing her.

She shot a glance out through the front windows. “Listen, short stack, can you do something about Tweedledee and Tweedledum? I’m losing customers.”

Jace and Magnus both looked to where Maia had tilted her head. The other two shadowhunters were standing on both sides of the door, hands behind their back, like they were bouncers. Maia watched as a young warlock regular approached from across the street, noticed the shadowhunters, and immediately turned around to leave.

Jace left his drink, jogged over to the door, and pulled the other two to the side out on the street. Maia sharpened her werewolf senses to listen even through the shut windows.

“Hey, Duncan, Patrick…mission’s done. Why don’t you head back to the Institute? I think I’m gonna stay longer not just drop in.”

“Are you sure, _sir_?” asked the Asian guy. He sounded annoyed and the “sir” was almost…mocking.

“Is that safe?” asked the other guy, licking his lips. Maia saw his hand tighten on his seraph blade hilt at his side and suppressed a growl. “Didn’t these guys want to kill you like two weeks ago?”

“So I guess we’ll be doing all the paperwork, then?”

Maia could hear Jace’s teeth grinding even through the glass of the front windows, over the noise of the bar, and over the night traffic outside.

“Patrick, I’ll be fine. And Duncan…I will finish my part of the report and give it to Alec before morning debriefing. Now, when you update the codex…”

Maia re-adjusted her hearing, satisfied that Jace would get the others to leave. When she turned her attention back to Magnus, she found him staring with wide eyes as he sipped his Long Island.

“So…you and Jace, huh?” There was laughter in his voice.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You’ve barely taken your eyes off him since he walked through the door.”

Maia shook her head and shrugged. “Last time he came in here he and his buddy tagged me with a tracking chip. I don’t want any more trouble, is all.”

Magnus smiled. “That actually makes this _more_ interesting, not less so.”

“Nothing is going on between us,” she said lightly. She scrubbed a towel furiously over the bar counter as she spoke the lie.

Magnus quirked a single eyebrow. “Right. I guess Jace just had hand sex with you right then for no reason at all.”

Maia thanked every god she knew that she wasn’t a blusher by nature. It didn’t matter either way because by the look on Magnus’ face, the jig was completely up.

“Look, it’s nothing. We hooked up a few times. It’s whatever.”

“Mmhmm, and does _Jace_ know that?”

Maia shot her eyes to the window. “He should. I let him know the score when we started up.” She shrugged. “Besides, rumor has it him and Clary are back together, anyway.”

Magnus’ face turned serious. “Be careful, Maia. You know that Clary is dear to me but so are you. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Maia waved him off. “Thanks for the concern but it’s not that deep, Magnus.”

Magnus looked skeptical but then Jace came back, so both Maia and Magnus decided without any verbal consensus to drop the topic.

Jace pulled some cash from his leather jacket and dropped it on the bar in front of her. She picked up the ten dollar bill to put it in the cash register and return the change.

“So, Magnus,” said Jace as he went back to his drink. “How’s things?”

Magnus set down his own glass and flourished his ringed hand in that way he always did.

“Wonderful, actually. I can finally enjoy the peace and quiet of my own home again.”

Jace leaned against the bar with a smirk. “You don’t have to pretend, Magnus. I know you miss having me around. Who else is going to make sure your record collection gets updated to the current decade?”

“You _do_ know that I own the hottest nightclub in New York City, Shadow World and mundane alike, right?”

Jace popped a few stale nuts from the bar counter into his mouth as he talked. “Debatable. I’m not there every night, now am I?”

Magnus laughed derisively. “I didn’t know you were a comedian as well as a demon slayer. Trying to diversify, are you?”

Maia scoffed as she dried a pitcher with a clean towel. “If your ego grew any larger, it’d be a zoning issue, Jace.”

“If it does get that large, are you volunteering to give me an inspection?”

Maia rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t want me to grade you, Zoolander. Your pride would be hurt.”

He pouted a little at the nickname then gave another one of his crooked grins. “I think you should know by now how good I am with pain.”

Maia fumbled the empty pitcher in her hand a little but caught it before she dropped it. She looked up to see Jace lick his tongue along his bottom lip like the cocky tease he was and she felt something low in her abdomen clench tight. Just like that, she was turned on.

Magnus’ voice shook her from her horny stupor.

“Alright, then,” he said. “That was certainly more than I ever wanted to know about you two. Maia, my dear, _we_ will finish our talk some other time. Jace, let’s not and say we did.”

Maia watched as Magnus got up from his stool with his glass in hand and spun gracefully to leave. His belt tassel swung out to slap Jace in the side. He walked to the back of the room and greeted some vampire she wasn’t that familiar with but whom he must’ve known.

Maia turned to Jace angrily. “Jesus Jace, could you be more obvious?”

Jace smiled unapologetically, eyes twinkling. “I wasn’t aware we were a secret.”

Maia sucked her teeth. “When I told you not to make anything of it the first time, I was serious. That hasn’t changed just because it’s happened a few more times since.”

Jace grew intent. “I kind of want it to be something.”

Maia heard her blood rushing by her ears and gritted her teeth. She wasn’t really here for any of this noise.

“It’s not going to mean anything because I said so. If you can’t accept that, then you’re not getting the little bit I feel like giving you in the first place. What we had was fun and you’re making it not so.”

She lobbed the dirty rag in her hand to a bin at her side full of a dozen like it. Jace gave her that kicked puppy look but she ignored him and turned to leave her spot behind the bar. It was the end of her shift anyway.

Maia nodded to Kandice as she passed the woman taking her shift. She pulled off her apron and pushed through the doors into the kitchen. She gave a few absent minded greetings to her staff and passed through to the break room. Rocco, her assistant manager, was closing today so she had no more work left. It was time to head home. She grabbed up her blue jacket hanging on the communal rack and turned to leave out the back door into the alleyway.

She was half way to where the alley spilled onto the road proper when Jace turned the corner to head her off. She stopped in her tracks, reluctant to try and squeeze past him with her libido fighting against her current anger. She knew herself. Being so close to him while her blood was up was a recipe for hate sex and she wasn’t about to tempt herself like that.

“What do you want, Jace? I’ve made my position pretty damned clear.”

Jace edged closer to her with his hands out, palms facing her like he was trying to show he wasn’t threatening. Maia almost snorted. As _if_ she was afraid of him. She crossed her arms and tapped her booted foot.

“Listen,” he said. “I don’t know how we went from flirting to fighting but I want to go back to the former. If I have to pretend like I don’t want you, then so be it.”

Maia rolled her eyes. “I already know you want to fuck me. I just don’t want you trying to play games with me. I’m not some random, fool girl you picked up at the club.”

“Hey, I’m not playing games. I’ve never played games with you, Maia. Not like that.”

Maia shifted in frustration, throwing her elbows out and resting her hands on her hips. She looked down at the dirty alley cement, nose full of refuse, vomit, and piss. She was starting to get a headache from the stench, her werewolf senses overwhelming her a little.

“I know what happened with Clary last week, Jace.”

Jace froze in his attempt to get closer to her, dropping his arms to his side.

“What?”

She looked up and caught his eyes. They were a little wide and Maia could barely make out his heterochromia in the dark.

“Seelies come into my bar all the time, not to mention Simon is my friend. I know what happened with the Queen.”

He was silent.

She sighed. “Listen, I didn’t say anything because it’s none of my business and other than the fact that Simon is hurt, I don’t give a crap what you and Clary get up to. When you stopped coming through, I got the message. Why are you suddenly trying to change the signal?”

He opened his mouth to talk but she cut him off with a wave of her hand. “You know what, whatever. I’m done here, Jace.”

She braved her sex drive and pushed by him, prepared to stalk off. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back before she got two steps away from him.

She spun around, jerking her arm from his hand irritably. He threw his hands back up and took a step away.

“Maia, wait…just wait,” he said and licked his lips. “It’s not like that. I know I was all…spun around over Clary but I’m not…we’re not back together, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

She bared her teeth. “I’m not worried about anything.”

“I know, I _know_. You’ve made that abundantly clear. I just…yes, Clary kissed me. It happened. But that doesn’t mean I kissed her.”

Maia scoffed and her lip curled.

Jace rubbed the back of his neck. “Ok, much…I didn’t kiss her _much_.”

Maia threw her head back as her eyes fell closed.

“Ok…that came out wrong. Maia, listen, I didn’t come around because I was too busy with missions this week. I’m not with Clary. I’m not going to be with Clary. She doesn’t even want to talk to me and I just…”

Maia dropped her head back down and watched him silently. He was pacing as he talked, barely looking at her. His hands were gesticulating wildly. He dropped them suddenly and turned to her.

“I’m tired, Maia.” His eyes were burning holes through hers and she could feel herself softening. She crossed her arms to firm up her resolve and push away that weakness.

He stepped closer to her. “Clary isn’t making up her mind about anything. One day she wants me and then she wants Simon. She’s half angry at me for what went down in the Seelie Court and then the next moment acting like it never even happened. She has no idea what she wants and I’m tired of waiting for it to not be hard for her. Movies make it seem like this never ending angst shit makes love deeper but honestly I’m just exhausted. I don’t want to do it anymore and I told her that a few days ago.”

He tentatively put his hands on her shoulders. She tensed but allowed it. When she didn’t pull away, he pressed closer and dragged his hands down her arms and around to her back in a loose hug.

“I swear, Maia. I’m done.”

Maia looked to the side at the brick wall of the shop next to her bar.

“What makes you think just because you’re done with Clary that I’ll change my mind? Maybe I don’t want to be with you either way. How about that?”

Jace dipped his head to the side to look at her face, grinning at her.

“Well, you let me put my arms around you and didn’t punch me in the face. I’ve taken that as a good sign.”

She immediately unfolded her arms, shoving him back.

He smiled at her. “You only did that because I’m right. You want to be with me.”

Maia bared her teeth again. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, jackass. You’re still on probation.”

“I will take probation gladly. I swear to be on my best behavior.” He put his hand to his chest like he was going to make an actual oath. "Although, if you want to lock me up, I have the cuffs."

Maia harrumphed and turned back to the mouth of the alley, taking long strides away from him. When she didn’t hear his footsteps echoing her, she paused to look back.

“What the hell are you waiting for? This alleyway smells like dog piss and rotten food. Let’s go.”

Jace grinned and jogged to catch up with her, following at her heels like a little Pomeranian. She stopped her eyes from rolling and led the way back to her apartment, heart still a little sick at the idea that maybe this all was a bad idea.

***

Later, after Jace had finished inside her, removed his condom, and fallen between her legs with his head pillowed against her bare breasts, she thought again about her choice. She would’ve been perfectly fine if whatever they’d been doing had never moved on to something more. She wasn’t in love with Jace. It would’ve been cool with her to leave it. Obviously things were different now.

She took a deep breath and felt his cheek slide a little along her chest, sweat slicking her skin. She ran a hand through his blonde hair, pushing it back from his face as she lifted her head from the headboard and looked down. She was propped up on some pillows and perfectly angled to see his face.

She contemplated his peaceful expression for a moment then slowly dragged her hand down his sweaty back. He hissed as her fingers pulled over the shallow cuts she’d left there and his hand tightened where it was gripping her spread leg.

“I’m not some place holder for Clary, Jace. I won’t allow it so don’t get it twisted. When I get with someone officially, I’m one hundred percent. You better make sure you are too.”

She dug her fingers briefly into the cuts again and he shivered. She watched as his eyes opened slowly, his long lashes fluttering appealingly. He slid his hand up her side to spread his fingers along her ribs, thumb hooked beneath her breast. He angled his head to the side an inch and pressed a kiss to her flesh.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said. His voice was dead serious.


End file.
